Marry me, Potter?
by KkarmaCchameleon
Summary: In which Lily accidentally proposes to James.


It didn't take long for James to figure out that Charms wasn't his best subject.

That isn't to say that he wad _bad_ at it. But when he started out, he wasn't even able to make the blasted feather flutter.

Now, his assigned partner, on the other hand—she was _fantastic_ from the start. A whiz at Potions and Charms; was there anything Lily Evans was bad at? In the years to come, he would attribute his lack of focus on levitating the feather to how attractive the girl next to him was. Red hair, fair skin, bright green eyes. James could feel a crush developing.

Lily, on the other hand, simply sighed in exasperation. Having succeeded in using _Wingardium Leviosa_ a few minutes earlier, she was watching his futile attempts with a bored expression. "You're doing it wrong," she pointed out, not cruelly, like she was trying to be helpful but it was just the tiniest bit beneath her. "You're flicking then swishing. Remember what he said, it's _swish and flick._" She grabbed his hand and made the motions with it for emphasis.

After she'd released his hand, he tried again, this time lifting the feather a foot off the desk. He beamed proudly. "Marry me?" he blurted.

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

Lily learned pretty quickly that James didn't mind getting shot down repeatedly. In fact, it only seemed to encourage him. She couldn't set foot out of her dormitory without hearing, _"Marry me, Evans?"_ If James saw her anywhere, he'd call the phrase out to her—across the grounds, down a staircase, in the middle of class. It didn't matter where. Hardly a day went by that he didn't say it.

It was annoying in an immature-little-boy kind of way.

That type of annoying is supposed to wear off around age fifteen.

It didn't.

It got worse.

When he wasn't asking her out or proposing, he was a reasonably decent person... But those times were few and far between.

Over breakfast one morning early in their sixth year, she casually asked, "Why, Potter, _w__hy_ do you always feel the need to propose to me?"

He flashed her his signature crooked, cocky grin. "In the hopes that you slip up and say yes one day, of course."

"And what if I did? What if one of these days, you jokingly ask me to marry you, and I say yes, and then you're trapped in an engagement to someone you could lose interest in?"

"Unlikely scenario."

"Which bit?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow up.

"All of it!"

* * *

They started going out near the start of seventh year, but their first official date was the first Hogsmeade trip of the term, naturally. As they drank butterbeer, he—of course—interrupted their conversation with the usual question: "Marry me, Evans?" He asked twice a day at a minimum: when he first saw her in the morning, and before they went to sleep. It was a routine. But he tried to throw it out there as often as he could. Just in case she changed her mind. Like now, for instance.

"Hmm," Lily said, as if deliberating it. "Maybe someday," she decided with a wink.

"Yes!" he crowed excitedly.

"Slow down, James, I didn't say yes!"

"But you didn't say _no_ either!" Eyes gleaming, he asked, "So...would you marry me _in the future?"_ He looked like a little kid asking for a reward if he could behave for a set amount of time.

"Well, assuming you don't screw this up," she gestured between the two of them. "Then I might—just might—consider the possibility of maybe thinking about marrying you one day."

"Close enough!"

* * *

N.E.W.T.s were drawing closer; in fact, it was just a few hours until the first test began. Many of the students had given up, decided the pursuit of education was pointless when there was no guarantee they would live to see tomorrow. Why waste their precious time studying for a future job they might not be around to have? Then there were students like Sirius, who thought revising for exams was useless and that the best way to prepare was to get drunk and then get a good night's sleep.

The Head Boy and Girl saw things differently; they wanted to become Aurors and help win the war. They _had_ to do well on their N.E.W.T.s. Lily had been frantically studying for weeks, and James had actually put a bit of effort into his schoolwork so he knew what he was going to be tested over. There were only two students left in the Gryffindor Common Room besides them: Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Every once in a while, they'd look up from their books and laugh at the pair. Remus was trying to multitask: he had a book in his lap that he was flipping through with one hand, while the other hand patted a hysterical Peter on the back. Peter had started to break down around ten p.m. and had been inconsolable ever since. He'd spent nearly an hour wailing about how he wouldn't pass, but he looked to be at peace now.

Eventually, even they left, and it was just James and Lily.

He finished explaining a complicated piece of Transfiguration theory that she'd been stuck on for a quarter hour. "Thanks," she said, rubbing her eyes. It was almost four in the morning; the Transfiguration exam started in about four and a half hours. "Dunno what I'd do without you."

"Crash and burn," he joked.

"Probably." She rested her forehead on his shoulder for a second and sleepily mumbled, "Marry me, Potter?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed sincerely.

"What?" She blinked at him confusedly.

"I mean, I would've preferred if you'd done it more proper, you know. Used my name, maybe... Gotten down on one knee. But the casual approach, I like it."

Realizing what she'd said, she mentally smacked herself. "Not really. I didn't—" She saw that he was walking away. "Where are you going?" she asked suspiciously.

"I've gotta tell them! You proposed to me! They'll never believe this!"

She grabbed his arm and stopped him when he was halfway up the stairs. "I didn't propose to you!"

"You said—"

"I know what I said. But I'm tired and it was more out of gratitude than anything else." She sighed. Sometimes having James as a boyfriend was the most frustrating thing in the world. But she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Are you," he began, grabbing at his chest in mock terror. "_Taking back your proposal?_"

"Why yes, yes I am."

"I'm crushed," he said, hanging his head, though the smirk on his face was evident. "Why would you do that to me, Lily?" He was considering turning on the tears, just to get a reaction out of her. Sometimes having Lily as a girlfriend was the most entertaining thing in the world. And he definitely wouldn't have it any other way.

"For starters, I wouldn't propose to you in the first place, not on purpose." Before he had the opportunity to pretend to take offense, she continued, "Despite how progressive I am on some issues, I'm pretty traditional when it comes to proposals. So...you'll be the one to propose, or no one does."

"Well in that case," James said brightly. "What would you do if I asked you to marry me right now?"

When she didn't answer right away, he took it as a good sign. "Will you marry me, Lily Evans?"

"Oh, why the hell not?" she laughed, thinking he was just kidding around. (Who would propose this early in the morning if it wasn't a joke?)

"I'm seriously asking for your hand in marriage and you're laughing at me." He pouted.

"Hmm, well then. If you're _seriously_ asking me to marry you—"

"I am," he cut in earnestly.

"Then I suppose the answer is..." She gave a long pause for effect before saying, "Yes."

"Really? You'll marry me?" He wasn't sure if he should believe her.

She nodded. "It wasn't an ideal proposal—four a.m. on a staircase isn't exactly romantic—but I can only turn someone down so many times before they get to me." After planting a quick kiss on his lips, she added, "Especially when the person I've been turning down is this cute."

"I almost forgot!" He dug around in the pocket of his robes for a moment before extracting a ring.

"You carry that around with you? How long—"

"A while," he answered quickly. "On the off-chance, y'know." He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "Perfect fit." Then it sank it. "I'm going to marry Lily Evans!" he whisper-yelled, grabbing her by the waist and attempting to twirl her around in a circle.

When he tried to spin around, Lily ended up colliding with the wall of the narrow staircase. Laughing and rubbing at the back of her head, she said, "And I'm going to marry James Potter, who not only thinks it's brilliant to propose on an old spiral staircase, but also has no common sense!"

With a kiss to her forehead, he teased, "How'd you get so lucky?"

* * *

Not JK, characters don't belong to me, etc etc etc.


End file.
